Chapter 9

Ji-an had already washed up and gone to bed, so she had to change back into clothes and run out again, and she reached the police substation in a fluster.

She shoved the glass door open hard enough to nearly break it and looked around, her face flushed.

“Managing Director!”

Then she saw Sa-heon’s back. The broad, straight line of his shoulders, the neat black hair, just as always. At the sight of them her racing heart finally seemed to settle back where it belonged.

“You’re here?”

Sa-heon spotted her, set down the porcelain teacup in his hand and smiled.

A porcelain teacup, in a police substation? The puzzlement lasted only a moment; then Ji-an noticed how strangely peaceful the substation was.

“Are you… all right?”

“Captain. This is my lover.”

“Managing Director!”

Ji-an jumped and shot him a look, and he chuckled and corrected himself.

“…I mean, my secretary. Ms. Han Ji-an.”

“Good evening!”

The middle-aged officer who’d been sitting across from Sa-heon rose and greeted her with polite formality. Ji-an hurriedly wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand and bowed deeply.

“Good evening…”

Sa-heon got up from his seat without any hurry.

“Would it be all right if we headed off now?”

“Ah, yes sir! Get home safely!”

Ji-an stared blankly at his broad back as he walked ahead of her. What on earth was going on? For a man who’d called in the middle of the night, he seemed far too unbothered.

“There’s a step there, so watch your step.”

Sa-heon went out first and held the glass door for her. She stepped out of the substation in a daze, and the cool early-summer night air touched her cheek. Only then did Ji-an ask the question she’d been holding back.

“Managing Director, what happened?”

“Chief Choi took care of it.”

“Already?”

I came the moment I got his call. Was I really that slow? No, if he’d called Chief Choi in, there was honestly no need to call me as well, was there?

Feeling a little wronged and a little flustered, Ji-an rubbed her neck and let her words trail off.

“Oh, I didn’t know. I got the call and just came running without thinking…”

“Right. Someone from Vice President Lee Jae-gwon’s side came by the house. They must have been after something of mine.”

“Oh my, really?”

Ji-an covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes going round. Her innocence nearly made the corner of his mouth twitch up, but Sa-heon stroked his chin and nodded gravely.

“Yes. This time I really almost died. They left the house an absolute wreck.”

With a little exaggeration mixed in, of course.

“You really could have been in terrible trouble… honestly, what is wrong with those people…”

“Still, I don’t think they noticed I’ve lost my memory.”

“That’s something, at least.”

Ji-an’s face darkened and she let out a deep sigh. For a while neither of them spoke, and the crickets filled the silence. Chirr, chirr.

“Um, so… shall I give you a ride?”

It came at the end of the awkward silence, and as she asked, Ji-an pulled her car key from her pocket and pressed the button.

The lights of a small white compact parked in front of the substation blinked. Sa-heon’s eyebrow went up and came back down, as though he hadn’t expected that.

“I didn’t know you had a car.”

“I don’t drive it much. Only when I’m in a hurry.”

“Were you that worried about me?”

Ji-an had been flapping her T-shirt with one hand to cool off, and at the teasing question she froze.

“O-of course I was. You call in the middle of the night and say you’re at a police station. Who wouldn’t be startled?”

“Chief Choi was perfectly calm about it.”

“The Chief has nerves of steel to begin with.”

“So you were worried, either way. That’s what I’m hearing.”

“You’re getting in, right?”

Ji-an changed the subject and pointed at the car. Sa-heon shrugged and followed her.

Tock. The passenger door shut. Ji-an started the engine and stole a glance at Sa-heon. The car had been tiny to begin with, and with someone as tall and broad-shouldered as him in the passenger seat, it felt packed full.

“Your house is…”

Hiding her fluster, Ji-an fixed her phone in the holder, opened the navigation app and searched for the address.

“You’re telling me to go home right now?”

“Sorry?”

Hah. Sa-heon sighed, pressed a hand to his forehead and knit his brows, as though the mere thought of it hurt.

“I just about died there, I told you.”

“Then would you like to go to a hotel? I’ll book one right away.”

“No. Why would I trust that? If they could walk into a house with airtight security, you think they couldn’t find me at a hotel? They’d be thrilled to come after me there. A hotel’s exactly the kind of place anyone can walk in and out of.”

“Then what should we…”

“I’ve got nowhere to go. And it’s already past midnight.”

“Shall I try getting hold of Chief Choi?”

“I told him to go straight home and rest once he’d wrapped up. You want to call him back out?”

Isn’t that your specialty, Managing Director? Ji-an couldn’t bring herself to say it, so her eyes just darted about and her face went awkward.

“I’ll just sleep in your car, Ji-an. I think it’s actually safer here. The sun comes up early these days anyway, so what could happen? It’s bound to be safer than the house.”

He sank his big frame into the passenger seat, tugged the seatbelt loose and closed his eyes.

“…”

The silence grew awkward to the point of dread, and Ji-an deliberated in it until at last her lips parted.

“Th-then… would you like to come to my place, at least?”

“Let’s do that.”

Sa-heon answered at once, without a second’s hesitation, and Ji-an had no choice but to turn the wheel.

Punching in the door-lock code while glancing back over her shoulder again and again, Ji-an opened the front door.

“The place is a bit cramped. Still, it should be fine for one night.”

“Pardon the intrusion.”

Sa-heon set his loafers down beside the slippers Ji-an had left there and looked around the little apartment.

Right by the entryway sat a small sink unit, with cabinets and a front-loading washing machine underneath. The snug living room he could take in without even turning his head held a two-seater ivory sofa, and on the side table in front of it lay an abandoned, half-eaten sandwich. Past the small TV mounted on the opposite wall, the space ran on to a single door that looked like the bedroom.

It was small enough to take in at a glance, yet nothing could have felt cozier. It felt like walking into a newlyweds’ home, where a man lived happily and cozily with the wife he loved.

I have to find a way to stay in this house. Sa-heon had made up his mind the instant he set foot inside.

“Hah… the more I think about it, the more frightening it is.”

Sa-heon muttered it with a hand to his forehead.

“Sorry?”

“It’s just that all of a sudden I can’t believe this. I’m barely out of the hospital and I nearly end up in danger again. My heart’s still pounding.”

“Ah…”

Ji-an looked up at him doubtfully. For a man who claimed to be frightened, his face was far too composed.

“You don’t believe me?”

“No… it’s not so much that I don’t believe you. I just wondered if anything could frighten you, Managing Director.”

“It’s true. Just thinking about going back to that house leaves me at a loss.”

Haa. He let out a small sigh and sat down on the sofa.

Ji-an, the actual owner of the place, could neither sit nor stand still, so she paced the living room, stealing glances at him. Living alone, she’d always thought the sofa was just the right size to lie down on, but with a man that tall sitting on it, it couldn’t have looked smaller.

“Please don’t worry. Tomorrow I’ll contact the security company and have them tighten things up.”

“I don’t find that reassuring at all. I doubt a security company would make any difference.”

He sat there as though it were his own home, lazily surveying the place, and watching him, she felt exactly like a bird whose nest had been taken by a snake. Ji-an wet her lips, and his gaze landed on her, frank and steady.

“Are you hot?”

“Sorry? Ah, just a little.”

“Your face is red.”

For no good reason the heat climbed another notch, so Ji-an flapped her T-shirt and changed the subject.

“Managing Director, can I get you something to drink?”

“What have you got?”

“Uh…”

She opened the refrigerator door, and Sa-heon rose from his seat, braced a hand on the door right behind her and leaned in slightly.

His face was right beside hers. The high bridge of his nose, the sharp line of his jaw, and the scent that always came off him, heavier tonight than usual.

“What is it?”

Their eyes met and he grinned. Ji-an jerked her head away to break the look.

“No, nothing. So, there’s sparkling water, and juice, and…”

“Could you just give me a glass of water?”

“Ah, yes!”

Ji-an quickly poured bottled water into a cup, handed it to him and smiled awkwardly.

“There’s nothing to eat in the house.”

“That’s fine. I didn’t come here to eat.”

Though something else would be another matter. Sa-heon kept the rest of it to himself and let his eyes crinkle into a faint smile, while Ji-an rubbed the back of her neck and hesitated. He paused mid-drink.

“Is there something you want to say?”

“No.”

Tick, tock. Silence settled over the living room, and the second hand of the clock on the wall sounded unusually loud.

Ji-an fiddled with the back of her neck and looked away, then took a new toothbrush from the cabinet above the sink, tore it open and held it out to him.

“You can use this toothbrush, and as for sleeping…”

Her big eyes flicked toward the bedroom, and she swallowed dryly. What is she so tense about? Sa-heon gave a short laugh.

“I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

“Oh, would you?”

Her face brightened visibly as she asked, and she hurried to fetch a blanket from the bedroom, set it on the sofa and gave a sheepish smile.

“Well then, good night.”

“Thank you.”

Click. Ji-an slipped into the bedroom and shut the door.

Acting so casual, when the back of her neck had gone red like that.

As if anyone were going to eat her alive. Sa-heon laughed low and set the mug down on the side table.

He washed up quickly in the bathroom, came out and lay down on the sofa. His legs stuck out past the end, but it was passable.

When he buried his nose in the sky-blue striped blanket, her scent rose off it, soft and warm. Whether the smile at the corner of his mouth was hollow or satisfied, there was no telling.

At any rate, he would sleep soundly tonight, exactly as planned.